Calvinist confessions of faith are the

confessions of faith A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) in a form which is structured by subjects which summarize its core tenets. The ea ...

of various

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

churches. These documents express consensus on doctrine for the church adopting the confession. A few confessions are shared as subordinate standards (i.e. authorities subordinate to the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

) by many denominations, which have made their choices from among the various creeds for primarily historical reasons. Some of the common Calvinist confessions are (with year of writing):

Continental Reformed

Presbyterian

Scots Confession The Scots Confession (also called the Scots Confession of 1560) is a Confession of Faith written in 1560 by six leaders of the Protestant Reformation in Scotland. The text of the Confession was the first subordinate standard for the Protestant ch ...

(1560) *The

Westminster Standards The Westminster Standards is a collective name for the documents drawn up by the Westminster Assembly (1643–49). These include the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Westminster Shorter Catechism, the Westminster Larger Catechism, the Directo ...

are common among the

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

churches: **

Westminster Confession of Faith The Westminster Confession of Faith is a Reformed confession of faith. Drawn up by the 1646 Westminster Assembly as part of the Westminster Standards to be a confession of the Church of England, it became and remains the "subordinate standard" ...

(1646) **

Westminster Shorter Catechism The Westminster Shorter Catechism is a catechism written in 1646 and 1647 by the Westminster Assembly, a synod of English and Scottish theologians and laymen intended to bring the Church of England into greater conformity with the Church of Sco ...

(1649) **

Westminster Larger Catechism The Westminster Larger Catechism, along with the Westminster Shorter Catechism, is a central catechism of Calvinists in the English tradition throughout the world. History In 1643 when the Long Parliament of England called the Westminster As ...

(1649) *

Confession of 1967 The Confession of 1967 is a confession of faith of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), abbreviated PC(USA). It was written as a modern statement of the faith for the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (UPCUSA), the "norther ...

*The

Book of Confessions The ''Book of Confessions'' contains the creeds and confessions of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The contents are the Nicene Creed, the Apostles' Creed, the Scots Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, the Second Helvetic Confession, the We ...

(1983) contains the confessional standards of the Presbyterian Church (USA), and incorporates versions of both Continental and Presbyterian confessions of faith, including the 1991 ''Brief Statement of Faith''.

Congregationalist

The Independents declined from Calvinist theology on issues of the role of the magistrate, and the powers of higher church courts, but retained the Calvinist system touching many other issues. * Cambridge Platform (1648), Massachusetts Bay Colony,

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

Savoy Declaration The Savoy Declaration is a Congregationalist confession of Faith. Its full title is ''A Declaration of the Faith and Order owned and practised in the Congregational Churches in England.'' It was drawn up in October 1658 by English Independents a ...

(1658),

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

* Saybrook Platform (1708), Connecticut Colony, New England

Baptist

Some of the

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

churches came alongside the

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...

movement in England, and in doing so sought to agree as far as conscience allowed, in the Calvinistic form of doctrine which prevailed among the Presbyterians and many Congregationalists. Except for their few exceptions concerning congregational church governance and adult baptism, these "Particular" Baptists adopted the Calvinist faith. *

1644 Baptist Confession of Faith The Confession of Faith, also called the First London Baptist Confession, is Particular Baptist confession of faith. Origin In 1644, seven Particular Baptist (Reformed Baptist or Calvinistic Baptist) churches met in London to write a confession ...

Keach's Catechism Keach's Catechism (also known as the 1677 Baptist Catechism or 1693 Baptist Catechism) is a Reformed Baptist catechism consisting of a set of 118 basic questions and answers from scripture teaching readers the basics of the Reformed Baptist faith. ...

(1677) *

1689 Baptist Confession of Faith The Confession of Faith, also called the Second London Baptist Confession, was written by Particular Baptists, who held to a Calvinistic soteriology in England to give a formal expression of their Christian faith from a Baptist perspective. Be ...

New Hampshire Confession of Faith In 1833, Baptists in the United States agreed upon a confession of faith around which they could organize a missionary society under the Triennial Convention. The New Hampshire Confession of Faith was drawn up by the Rev. John Newton Brown of New ...

Baptist Affirmation of Faith 1966 The Baptist Affirmation of Faith 1966 also known as the Strict Baptist Affirmation of Faith 1966, is essentially a confession of faith which was drawn up by the Strict Baptist Assembly in London on May 21, 1966. The Grace Baptist Assembly, which ...

Anglican

The Anglican church is not a confessional church in the same way that the Lutheran Church is.

Anglican doctrine Anglican doctrine (also called Episcopal doctrine in some countries) is the body of Christian teachings used to guide the religious and moral practices of Anglicans. Approach to doctrine Anglicanism does not possess an agreed-upon confessi ...

is most defined by ''

Lex orandi, lex credendi ''Lex orandi, lex credendi'' ( Latin: "the law of what is prayed sthe law of what is believed"), sometimes expanded as ''Lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi'' ( Latin: "the law of what is prayed swhat is believed sthe law of what is lived"), ...

'' ("the law of praying sthe law of believing"). *

Thirty-Nine Articles The Thirty-nine Articles of Religion (commonly abbreviated as the Thirty-nine Articles or the XXXIX Articles) are the historically defining statements of doctrines and practices of the Church of England with respect to the controversies of the ...

* Lambeth Articles * Irish Articles 1615 * The

(1646) is originally an Anglican confession of faith.

Methodist

The "Confession of Faith of the Calvinistic Methodists or the Presbyterians of Wales" was adopted at the Associations of Aberystwyth and Bala in the year 1823.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reformed Christian Confessions Of Faith Reformed confessions of faith, Calvinist texts Huguenots